Isabel Dalhousie is asked to help a doctor who has been disgraced by allegations of scientific fraud concerning a newly marketed drug.

"In Pianos and Flowers we are invited, through the medium of sepia images, to glimpse a world long departed. In these stories, inspired by long-lost photographs, the lives of the people in the frame are imagined and then explored, layer by layer. What must have it like to be them? We hold our breath for them. Our heart beats faster for them. We look again at the photograph in a new light, and say Yes, it might have happened just like that. This journey...

Isabel Dalhousie, everyone's favorite moral philosopher, is once again called on to help navigate a decidedly delicate dispute with all of the insight and compassion she has become known for. What makes Isabel's investigations so unique is her uncanny ability to view all sides of a situation with coolness and reserve--and she will tap deep into her stores of both in order to help see this one through. Meanwhile, Isabel and her husband Jamie will together...

Before becoming the first female private investigator in Botswana, eight-year-old Precious Ramotswe tracks down a thief who has been stealing her classmates' snacks.

"In these delightful poems, Alexander McCall Smith writes about his travels, from Africa to Greece, London to Dubai, and back home to Scotland. He shares his gentle, inimitably McCall Smith-esque observations on life, love, and beauty, reminding us how deeply satisfying it can be to take in the world around us with all our senses, and with all our mind and heart"-- Provided by publisher.

This first novel in Alexander McCall Smith's widely acclaimed The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series tells the story of the delightfully cunning and enormously engaging Precious Ramotswe, who is drawn to her profession to help people with problems in their lives. Immediately upon setting up shop in a small storefront in Gaborone, she is hired to track down a missing husband, uncover a con man, and follow a wayward daughter. But the case that tugs...

From the beloved author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series comes a new short story collection: half spy stories, half tales of revenge, all highlight the kinder, funnier, and gentler side of espionage and retribution. In this dual collection of short stories, Alexander McCall Smith brings his trademark humor and warmth to inventive tales of spying and vengeance. In one story, a spy dropped deep into enemy territory manages to disguise himself--quite...

"A dazzling and uplifting novel of new beginnings and endless possibilities, in which a slew of personal and professional disasters cause a young researcher to upend his seemingly stable life in Edinburgh and move to a remote island off the Scottish coast"-- Provided by publisher.

Follows Mma Ramotswe, a recently bereaved woman, as she sets up the only woman-run private detective agency in Botswana and her attempts to get it off the ground. She gets help from Mma Makutsi, her new secretary, and Mr. JLB Matekoni, the owner and super mechanic of the wonderful Speedy Motors. Mma Ramotswe takes on cases, meets many new people who need her help - from a woman who thinks the man who has turned up at her door is not her father, to...